27th Street Bridge

Call the hotline to hear the latest traffic impact information: 970-618-5379. View the latest ConeZone updates under the News section on the City's homepage (scroll down).

Ongoing Impacts

Whenever possible, crews are limiting work with traffic impacts to off peak hours. However, due to the dynamic nature of the construction activities and site constraints, intermittent lane closures on the bridge may be required during peak times.

Construction on the 27th Street Bridge (also known as Sunlight Bridge) project began on January 2, 2019. As soil nail walls near completion (targeted to be complete beginning of April), crews are shifting focus to micropile construction. With this new work activity, expect to see some changes to project impacts.

The construction team will make every attempt to avoid lane closures during the peak times, especially the morning rush, but this is a very dynamic site. At any given time, materials and crews are moving in and out of the very limited site areas, working on complex construction activities. It is like replacing the floor of a gymnasium while keeping a basketball game going.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

Bus Stop Service Notice

The 27th Street/S. Grand Ave. Ride Glenwood bus stop will close until further notice on Monday, April 22 with the spring schedule change. Service will be relocated to the 27th BRT station on CO-82. This stop will be closed for the duration of project construction. The last day of service at this location will be Sunday, April 21.

Micropile Construction

Construction crews began construction on the micropiles for the new pedestrian and traffic bridges on March 18. Expect heavy machinery and louder construction noise associated with these operations which will be ongoing for approximately the next two months. Construction on Saturdays and Sundays is expected to be more frequent.

Micropiles are deep foundation elements constructed using a high-strength steel rod surrounded by grout in a small, 10” diameter steel pipe. The project is using micropiles to enable accelerated bridge construction (ABC construction) to construct the foundation of the new bridges on location while keeping the existing bridge open and minimizing the overall duration of the project.

Additional Construction Information

Work is expected to take place throughout 2019 for this project, which includes the traffic bridge, pedestrian bridge, and the roundabout. The current 27th Street Bridge and pedestrian bridge will remain open until the replacement of the bridges occurs in summer 2019. Pedestrian and river access will largely remain open; however, there will be periodic holds and some full closures for critical overhead work later in 2019.

Business access will remain open. Follow flagger instructions and construction signage. There will be daily lane closures on both sides of the bridge. Motorists should also expect delays for travel along South Grand Ave. between 23rd Street and 29th Street. (Please note that CO-82 switches from Grand Ave. to Glen Ave. south of 23rd Street).

In the summer of 2019, construction crews will build the new replacement bridge just south of the existing bridge. The old bridge will be deconstructed, and the new bridge will be slid into place. This technique, called a bridge slide, will minimize impacts to traffic, pedestrians, utilities, and river users while replacing the existing vehicle bridge. A new and separate pedestrian bridge also will be built to the north and all bridge piers will be removed from the Roaring Fork River.

City Council approved the 27th Street Bridge project design services during construction and construction management contract at the regular August 2, 2018 City Council meeting. Council awarded the bridge design services during construction contract to Wood and construction management contract to HDR.

City of Glenwood Springs officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking on November 14, 2018. Construction is set to begin in early 2019. Once construction begins, this project is currently anticipated to last for 12-18 months.

Construction will implement a bridge slide and minimize impacts to traffic, pedestrians, utilities, and river users. The new vehicle bridge will be built adjacent to the existing bridge and then slid into place. A new and separate pedestrian bridge also will be built, and all bridge piers will be removed from the Roaring Fork River.

The City received a $950,000 grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and a $500,000 grant from the Garfield County Federal Mineral Lease District for the Construction of the 27th Street Bridge. Total grant funding for the replacement of this bridge is $3.18 million with almost $2.6 remaining for construction. As of March 2018, $620,828 of the Off-System Bridge funding had been utilized in the design with $1.1 million remaining for construction.

Ninety percent construction plans are available at cogs.us/DocumentCenter/View/3673

A PDF of design team AMEC Foster Wheeler's presentation from Nov. 16, 2016 is available at cogs.us/DocumentCenter/View/1528